Treasury Sanctions Libyan Prime Minister, Other Officials

The U.S. Treasury Department announced more sanctions against Libya on Friday, adding five government officials and two entities controlled by the children of Col. Moammar Gadhafi to its list of blacklisted officials.

Odd Andersen/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images

A Libyan rebel fighter sits on top of a vehicle outside the town of Ajdabiya on April 8, 2011.

Thus far, the U.S. sanctions regime against Libya have frozen $34 billion in assets, and that number is expected to continue to rise. The country is in a stalemate, according to a U.S. general, as disorganized rebels continue to try to remove Gadhafi from power. Friday’s action freezes the U.S. assets of the new individuals and of the entities.

“We will continue to expose and impose sanctions on senior Libyan government officials who choose to remain at Qadhafi’s side,” said David S. Cohen, acting undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, in the statement. “They have a choice to make, and we will make that choice as stark as possible.”

Included in Friday’s announcement were Libya’s prime minister, oil minister, its functional equivalent of a finance minister, director of the security forces and Gadhafi’s chief of staff.

Also receiving designations are the Gaddafi International Charity and Development Foundation and the Waatasemu Charity Association, which are controlled by Gadhafi’s son Seif and daughter Aisha, both of whom were previously designated under the Feb. 25 executive order granting the Treasury the power to levy sanctions.

As of Friday, 19 individuals associated with the Gadhafi regime are under U.S. sanctions, the statement said.

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